Apparatus for applying and securing strip material



June 20,- 1939. L. Q PRESBY 2,163,059

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING AND SECURING STRIP MATERIAL File Dec. 17, 1936 I 4 Sheets-Sheet I a v p T IW/ve 71/301".-

Leroy QPz-es Fry,

19 mfm, 24 #3 June 20, '193'9. Q PRE BY 2,163,059

I APPARATUS FOR APPLYING AND SECURING STRIP MATERIAL Filed Dec. 17 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inve 71/2272:

2' Leroy gl reijg. (9%, 5 251 fig c 525;

June 20, 1939. L. Q. PRESBY 2,163,059

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING AND SECURING STRIP MATERIAL Filed Dec. 17, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

IW/veW/ZO 2".-

. I I I I l l I June 20, 1939. L. Q. PRESBY 2,163,059

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING AND SECURING STRIP MATERIAL Fil'ed Dec. 17, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I l I I I nvenioz':

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w, Leroy QPPes 72y,

Patented June 20, 1939 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR APELYING AND SECURING STRIP MATERIAL Leroy Q. Presby, Melrose, Mass, assignor to American Stay Company, East Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application December 17, 1936, Serial No. 116,411

7 Claims.

My invention relates to apparatus for applying and adhesively securing strip material as, for example, folding and cementing the strip constituted by the margin of a shoe upper.

The invention, which is more particularly concerned with applying strips coated with nontacky adhesive capable of being rendered tacky by treatment with a liquid softening agent, will be best understood from the following descriptions, when read in the light of the accompanying drawings, of examples of a method of and apparatus for folding and securing French bindings to shoe uppers, the scope of the invention being more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts omitted, of one form of folding machine according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the right hand end of the folding machine according to Fig. 1 viewed from the opposite side;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one form of edge guide and liquid presenting instrumentality;

Fig. 4 is an elevation with parts shown in Fig. 3 as viewed from the right;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the machine according to Fig. 1 as viewed from the right, with parts in section on the line 55 of Fig. 1, and parts omitted;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of with parts omitted;

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are more or less schematic diagrams illustrating the operation of the machine, Fig. 7 being a planof a fragment of the work table with the work inserted. and parts omitted, Fig. 8 being a side elevation according to Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 being an end elevation according to Fig. 7 as viewed from the right with parts in section;

' Fig. 10 is an elevation of the lower end of the combined edge guide and liquid softening agent presenting instrumentality on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a step in the operation of applying the liquid softening agent to the work; and

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 illustrate steps of applying French'binding to shoe uppers.

In the manufacture of shoes it is customary to fold the margin of a shoe upper. Two procedures are in common use. In the first the margin of the upper leather is skived. A coating of cement is applied to the skived surface and then the margin is folded to press that surface against the body of leather. In the second a narrow binding strip Fig. 5,

I (Fig. 12), commonly termed French binding and usually of textile material, is sewed by a line of stitching indicated at 3 (Fig. 12) along the edge of the upper leather 5. The binding strip is bent to its position shown by Fig. 13 and cement is applied. It is then folded to its position shown by Fig. 14, and pressed to the upper leather to secure it thereto. Commonly the skived margin of the shoe in the first mentioned procedure, or one side of the French binding in the second mentioned procedure, is coated with a nontacky layer of rubber-base compound capable of being rendered tacky by the application of heat. The present invention is concerned with folding and otherwise applying bindings, stays and other strips, and folding margins of sheets, which are coated with non-tacky material capable of being rendered tacky by treatment with a liquid softening agent such as water.

It will be understood that in the drawings the French binding is shown on an enlarged scale and of exaggerated thickness, the binding in practice when coated with the adhesive being in the order of one hundredth of an inch in thickmess.

The folding machine illustrated comprises a lower arm 1 carrying a work support 9, and an upper arm H, the base portion l3 of the latter along one edge being pivotally connected at spaced points 15 to the edge of the base portion ll of the former so that the upper arm may be swung about a horizontal axis afforded by the pivotal connections 15 to give access to the mechanisnrcarried by these arms and their base portions.

The parts for operating upon the work are carried by the two arms '1 and H. These parts comprise a combined edge guide and liquid presenting instrumentality iii, in some instances a second edge guide 2| (Figs. 2 and 'l), a rotary wheel presser foot 23, a folder 25, a hammer or presser 21, and an anvil 29. Except that the combined edge guide and liquid presenting instrumentality I9 is a modified form of an edge guide of a well known commercial folding machine, the parts just mentioned and the mechanism for operating them are well known and need not be described with more particularity than is necessary for an understanding of the present invention.

The edge guide I9 engages the edge of the shoe upper as it passes through the machine as diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 9, while the other edgev guide 2|, if employed, engages the bent edge of the binding as diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 9.

The folder 25 reciprocates longitudinally in an inclined path. from a position below the level of the work to such position above that level as will place the upper end of the folder adjacent the upper edge of the binding when the latter has been bent or folded by the folder approximately from its position shown in section in Fig. 9, and with the upper end of the folder slightly over the upper leather 5 so as to cause the binding to be wiped over the edge of the upper leather. In practice provision is made for adjusting the inclination of the folder to adapt it to different kinds of work.

The anvil 29 reciprocates to and fro transversely of the work table in the direction of feed movement of the work. The hammer or presser 21 cooperates with the anvil to complete the fold and press the fold against the body of the upper leather and progressively feed the work step by step across the work table. In practice provision is made for adjusting the lengths of these steps. The hammer 21 has a four motion movement. It descends upon the folded binding to press it and the upper leather against the anvil when the latter is close to the edge guide I9 as diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. '7. Then the hammer and anvil move together away from the edge guide to feed the work one step, say from to of an inch long, whereupon the hammer rises and the hammer and anvil return to the position shown by Fig. 2 in position for repetition of the cycle. The folder 25 is in approximately its upper position when the hammer descends upon the work just before the beginning of the feeding stroke of the hammer and anvil, and is in approximately its lower position when the hammer recedes from the work.

In the machine illustrated the edge guide and liquid presenting instrumentality I9 is in the form of a tube which extends through and is fixed to a block 3| (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) slidably mounted for vertical movement in the opening 33 of the member 35 operatively carried by the arm II. The block 3| has a projecting pin 31 embraced by the opposite portions of the bifurcated end of the finger lever 39. This finger lever is pivoted at 4| and is urged to move the member l9 downward by means of a tension spring 43. A stop screw 45 adjustably threaded through the finger lever, the end of which screw engages with the, stop surface4'l, is effective to determine the extent of downward movement of the member I9. Ordinarily this stop screw. will be adjusted to cause the extreme lower end of the edge guide to contact with the coated side of the binding, a short narrow groove 48 (Figs. 8 and 9) being formed in the work table directly below the end of the edge guide to prevent pinching of the binding.

The presser roller 23, similarly to the member 19, is carried by a vertically slidable part operatively carried by the arm II, this part being indicated at 49. Similarly to the member I9, the part 49 is urged downward by a spring pressed finger lever, this lever being shown at 5| and being operatively pivoted to the upper arm at 53 (Fig. 1). The finger member carries an adjustable stop screw 55 (Fig. 2) the upper end of which cooperates with the stop surface 41. The compression spring 51 cooperating with the rod 59, which is pivotally attached at its lower end to the finger member, is effective to urge the presser roller 23 downward.

' By pressing downward the free ends of the two finger members 39 and 5! the edge guide 19 and presser roller 23 respectively may be raised to permit insertion of the work, and upon release of the finger members the springs associated therewith move this guide and roller into operative relation with the work.

As illustrated (Figs. 3, 4, 9 and 10), the tube forming the member H] at its lower end is shaped to form an inclined face 6| with which the coated side of the binding is adapted to engage during the folding operation, and with an approximately vertically positioned face 62 with which the edge of the shoe upper is adapted to engage as it feeds across the work table. In the face 6! is formed a slot 63 communicating with the bore 65 of the tube l9 and preferably extending to and opening on the end of the edge guide. In these figures the parts are shown on a much enlarged scale and the slot 63 of exaggerated width. In practice satisfactory results are se cured with a tube about of an inch outside diameter and a bore about t; of an inch diameter, withthe lower end of the edge guide as viewed in Fig. 10 about 0.08 of an inch wide and. the slot 63 about 0.003 of an inch wide and about 0.25 of an inch long, the length of the slot corresponding to the width of that portion of the binding which is to be folded, or being of length slightly less than that width. On account of the narrow width of this slot, which forms an orifice to which the cementitious coating of the binding is presented, as will hereinafter be explained, it is herein termed a capillary orifice as the results secured by.it are understood to be subject to explanation by phenomena relating to surface tension of liquids.

As illustrated, attached to the rearward end of the machine is a rearwardly extending bracket 61 carrying a casing formed by the detachably connected plate-like parts 69, H and I3. Rotatablymounted in bearings 15 carried by this casing is a shaft TI to which is secured a pulley l9 driven by a belt 8| which passes around .a pulley 83 fixed to the drive shaft of the machine. The shaft 11, as shown, carries a worm indicated at 85 which meshes with the worm wheel 81, the latter being carried by a shaft 89 rotatably mounted in the parts 69 and II of the casing. Fixed to the shaft 89 is a gear wheel 9l,which meshes with a gear wheel 93 mounted on a spindle 95 also rotatably carried by the casing parts 69 and H. These gear wheels are received in shallow recesses 91 formed in the casing part H. These recesses intersect, and at the side portions of their intersections are cut away to form chambers 99 and IUI. The construction just described forms a gear pump in which the chamber 99 forms the inlet and the chamber l0l the outlet. Upon the gear wheels being rotated in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 6, liquid which is supplied to the chamber 99 enters the interstices between the gear teeth of each gear wheel, and is carried around the peripheries of the two recesses 91 to the outlet chamber l0l.

The outlet chamber liil of the gear pump is connected by a passage i03 formed in the casing part H which leads to the exterior of that part. Communicating with the passage I83 is a tube I05. This tube is connected to the tube l9 by a length of rubber hose or other flexible conduit I01 that will permit the upper arm I l to be swung on the pivotal connections 15.

The inlet chamber of the pump above described 76 which attempt to moisten bindings. If any drip is supplied with liquid by a passage I09 connected to the bottom portion of a. liquid reservoir III formed by a pipe-like part II3 theend of which is screwed into an opening in the part I3 of the casing.

In the present machine, for supplying liquid to the interior of the reservoir I I I, and maintaining a substantially constant level or head of liquid therein, a vertically positioned inverted bottle H5 having an elongated tubular spout II! is provided, which spout extends into the reservoir I I I and has its end face II9 formed at an angle, so that when the level of the reservoir III drops to uncover the opening at the end of the spout sufficiently to permit a bubble'or bubbles of air to enter the bottle liquid softening agent contained in the bottle will flow downward from the bottle until the rise in liquid in the reservoir III again closes the opening. As shown, the bottle is carried by a socketed member I2I pivotally carried at I23 to the upstanding terminal portion I25 of the pipe I I3. The socketed member conveniently also has a depending tubular portion I21 which receives the neck of the bottle. Entrance of atmospheric air to the reservoir III is provided by the communicating passages I29, I3I and I33 formed in the socketed member and sealing washer I35.

On account of the extreme reduction ratio of the gearing whcih drives the gear pump, and the small size of the gears and their gear teeth, the capacity of the pump is rather minute. Satisfactory results will be secured, for example, when employing the binding coated with the adhesive described-in co-pending application of Edward B. Luitwieler Serial No. 115,661, filed December 14, 1936, and a machine which progresses the work from 2 to 3 inches per second, if the pump supplies one drop of water to the capillary orifice 6| above described in about 2 /2 seconds, that is to say, one drop of water when the work has been fed through a distance of from about 5 to 7 inches. Satisfactory results have been secured under these conditions with gears 9i and 93 about one-half inch diameter and of an inch thick each having 24 teeth and rotating at about I8 revolutions per minute. However, the exact amount of liquid which it is necessary to supply will depend upon the sensitivity of the coating to becoming tacky when treated with such liquid.

In the customary manner of operating a folding machine, after the work is inserted the operator depresses a foot treadle to place the machine in operation, and when the work is folded permits the treadle to rise to place the machine out of operation. It will thus be noted that with such operation and employing the present machine the gear pump will operate only when the folding mechanism operates. Further, the folding machine is commonly provided with a slip-clutch operated by the pressure exerted on the foot treadle to control the speed of the machine. In binding curves and corners the speed of the machine commonly is much reduced by the operator. It will be observed, however, that when so reduced the speed of the pump likewise will be reduced, and that therefore the amount of water supplied to the orifice is variably measured by the pump to regulate that amount in accordance with the speed of operation of the machine.

On account of the small width of the orifice 63 when the machine ceases operation water or other liquid cannot drip from the orifice. Thus is eliminated a serious defect of prior machines could occur the resulting accumulation of water or other liquid softening agent would be liable so seriously to mar the work as to make it unsalable, it being observed that French bindings are usually applied only to womens shoes, the uppers of which commonly are of delicate color, and much persuasive evidence could be produced to establish that the ultimate consumer of this class of goods is commonly meticulous in respect to the appearance of wearing apparel.

When the machine is in operation and the folder 25 moves upward to fold the binding, and when the hammer 21 moves downward to press the binding against the anvil 29, the coated side of the binding is drawn against the capillary orifice 63, as diagrammatically illustrated in Figs. '7, 8 and 9. When the folder moves to its lower position, and the hammer and anvil move to the left from their position shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, to feed the work, ordinarily the binding will move from in contact with the capillary orifice. In this manner ordinarily liquid Will be applied to the coating through spaced areas I37 roughly determined by the size of the capillary orifice, as diagrammatically illustrated inFig. 11, which areas are spread more or less to contact with each other by absorption and the action of the hammer in pressing the work. It will be understood, however, that the operation illustrated in these figures, which are for the most part on a much exaggerated scale, is only approximate.

As will be observed from Figs. 1 and 5, the level of the liquid in the reservoir ill is preferably below that of the orifice 63 to insure against untoward conditions breaking the surface tension of the liquid at the capillary orifice and siphoning liquid out of the tubes or reservoir. Although not essential, preferably the gears closely fit the recesses in the gear pump casing which receives them, which fit insures against liquid emptying in either direction from any portion of the tubes when the machine is out of operation if any untoward conditions should break the surface tension film of the liquid at the orifice. If the tube should be empty when the machine is placed in operation water would not be immediately supplied on account of the small capacity of the pump. It is of course necessary in initially placing the machine in condition for operation to run it for a time necessary to cause the liquid to appear at the orifice 63, After this is done, however, the machine may be placed in and out of operation without it being-necessary to repeat the initial operation of filling the tube with water.

It will be understood that within the scope of the appended claims wide deviations may be made from the forms of the invention described without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I I claim:

1. Apparatus for applying a strip having a coating of non-tacky cement capable of being rendered tacky by treatment with a substantially non-setting liquid softening agent of water-like consistency, an instrumentality for presenting such liquid, means for progressively moving said strip to present said coating to said instrumentality to contact with and remove liquid thereat by reason of such contact and pressing said strip to the part to which it is to be applied with said coating in contact with said part, and means for maintaining a continuous supply of such liquid at said instrumentality comprising a liquid reservoir and a constantly driven pump for constantly supplying liquid from said reservoir to said instrumentality.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the pump is a constantly driven displacement pump operated only when said means for moving said strip to present said coating to said instrumentality operates and automatically therewith.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the pump is a displacement pump operated only when said means for moving said strip to present said coating to said instrumentality operates and automatically therewith, and in which apparatus is included means for maintaining a substantially constant head of liquid at the intake of said pump.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said instrumentality comprises a capillary orifice at which the supply of liquid is maintained, and the pump for maintaining the supply of liquid at said orifice is a constantly driven displacement pump operated only when said means for moving said strip to present said coating to said instrumentality operates and automatically therewith.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said instrumentality comprises a capillary ori fice at which the supply of liquid is maintained, the pump for maintaining the supply of liquid at said orifice is a displacement pump operated only when said means for moving said strip to present said coating to said instrumentality operates and automatically therewith, and in which apparatus is included means for maintaining a substantially constant head oi liquid at the intake of said pump corresponding to a liquid level close to the level of said orifice.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said instrumentality comprises a capillary orifice at which the supply of liquid is maintained, the pump for maintaining the supply of liquid .at. said orifice is a displacement pump operated only when said means for moving said strip to present said coating to said instrumentality perates and automatically therewith, and in which apparatus is included means for maintaining a substantially constant head of liquid at the intake of said pump corresponding to a liquid level below the level of said orifice.

7. Apparatus for applying a strip having a coating of non-tacky cement capable of being rendered tacky by treatment with a substantially non-setting liquid softening agent of water-like consistency having, in combination, a conduit terminating in a capillary orifice, displacement means for continuously urging a flow of such liquid through said conduit to said orifice to maintain a supply of liquid at said orifice, means for progressively presenting said coating to said orifice to contact with and remove liquid thereat by reason of. such contact and pressing said strip to the part to which it is to be applied with said coating interposed between the two, and means for operating said displacement means automatically with the operation of said means for presenting said coating to said orifice and discontinuing its operation automatically therewith,

LEROY Q. PRESBY. 

